Screening of ion exchange resins for hazardous Ni(II) removal from aqueous solutions: Kinetic and equilibrium batch adsorption method

Abstract

The development of new, cheaper, and more effective technologies to decrease the amount of wastewater containing heavy metals and to improve the quality is indispensable. Adsorption has become one of the alternative treatment methods. A small number of studies focusing on the batch technique for nickel ion removal by the new generation ion exchangers are described in the literature. In this paper, the Ni(II) removal from aqueous solutions using the ion exchange resins of different types was investigated. The experiments were conducted at different HCl and HCl/HNO3 concentrations, and the initial concentration was 100 mg Ni(II)/L. The investigation of the Ni(II) desorption from the chosen resins were carried out. The Ni(II) removal efficiency and the rate of removal are shown on the kinetic curves and the rate constants as well as kinetic parameters were collected and compared. The isotherm parameters were calculated and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy with the attenuated total reflection spectra was performed to determine the nature of adsorption. The experimental results showed that the Ni(II) percentage removal is high and Lewatit MonoPlus TP220 could be an alternative for the treatment of nickel(II) containing wastewaters.